Urban Foraging with David Craft

Posted on by
Reply

David Craft shows off a wild grape plant. Last week we went on an edible plant walk through our neighborhood. It was hosted by David Craft, whose book, Urban Foraging, details the produce he collects around Boston. He started out the evening by feeding us all black locust blossoms. It was bizarre pulling them off the branch and popping them right in my mouth, but they tasted sweet, like pea shoots.

Foraging obviously isn’t an efficient way of getting food, but it would be nice to be able to recognize plants as you walk past and just gather a handful for dinner. Also, it seems like most should be collected when they’re young, in the early spring. At that point most farmer’s markets haven’t started yet, so it’s a nice way to get super local food when it’s not otherwise easily available. And I have to admit to the urge to grab handfuls of berries from my neighbors’ yards.

On the other hand, in the city I would be worried about contamination. I’ve read that plants don’t absorb heavy metals in high concentrations, so it’s ingesting the dirt on the outside that’s the main problem. A thorough washing takes care of that. But who knows what pesticides have been sprayed on them and how much they retain? Probably less than conventional produce, but what’s a good rule of thumb? None of the urban foragers I’ve read deal with that, except to tell you to avoid highways. I’m going to keep researching, but if anyone has some insight to share, please do!

In the meantime, I’m going to get a good field guide so that I can identify edible plants, even if I’m not up to eating them yet. David’s book is more of a primer on the subject.

Cross-posted on pragmaticenvironmentalism.com

Those pesky fluorocarbons

Posted on by
Reply

air conditioners - bklyn heights by bondidwhat Once found in everything from whipped desert topping in a can to sore throat spray, CFCs were eventually found to react with protective layer of our atmosphere which blocks much of the sun’s harmful rays. They were eventually replaced with related compounds, HCFCs and HFCs. Although the substitutes were not harmful to the ozone layer, like the CFCs before them they have significant global warming potential.

ChemicalGWPODPLife (yr)
CO210>10,000
R12 (CFC)81001100
R22 (HCFC)18000.0612
R134a (HCFC)1300014
H2ON/A0N/A

Two weeks ago Canada, Mexico and the United States put forth a proposal to include these ‘Class II’ ozone depleting substances in the Montreal Protocol and phase-out their use. The proposed replacements are hydrocarbons, but their flammability complicates their use as general purpose substitutes, though these problems are not insurmountable. The Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy, an industry association of HCFC/HFC producers and users, has some interesting background on the trade-offs relating to refrigerant selection, although they clearly have a vested interest in the matter.

There is another surprising alternative to these refrigerants, without resorting to the toxic ammonia of yore. If you glanced at the table above, you likely believed that the last entry was included for comparison. It was, but it turns out that water can also be used a refrigerant. Two years ago The Barr Foundation and the Cambridge Energy Alliance put forth an innocentive for a more efficient air conditioner. The winning submission was for a water-based system. A diagram of the novel solution is available on the InnoCentive blog.

Saturday: 4th Annual BLS Youth CAN Global Climate Change Summit

Posted on by
Reply

Boston Latin Youth Climate Action Network
Enjoy a great day of climate workshops, presentations, green vendors, youth displays, and climate related activities. Film a public service announcement. Create a sustainability message at the YouTube booth. Take workshops about green architecture, eating sustainably, futuristic carbon-free energy and many more. All who register (online) will be entered into a drawing for door prizes including iPods, gift certificates, and more.

An afternoon networking session will give Summit attendees to become part of Youth CAN’s Massachusetts Education for Sustainability Campaign aimed at requiring education for sustainability at the secondary level.

Event is free, including breakfast and lunch. Register online as soon as possible to obtain a slot in the workshop of your choice. More information.

Check out a video of last year’s summit:

Celebrate (bio)diversity

Posted on by
1

Snail darter Amidst continuing reports of species loss, both high-profile exotic beasts and domestic it’s easy to forget that, all creatures great and small are threatened by our heedless exploitation of nature, not only the charismatic mammals. One of the most famous examples is the humble snail darter (right).

Consequently, the US Senate recently declared that Friday, May 21 Endangered Species Day. Celebrate by visiting the zoo or aquarium, and perhaps savoring a (farmed) buffalo burger… an animal we pushed to near extinction but with careful stewardship have brought back from the brink.

ecO ‘lectrc’ty where art thou?

Posted on by
1

green power by S Migol Did you know that you have the option to choose who makes your electricity? Since deregulation in 1997, NSTAR no longer generates electricity. This is why there are separate charges on your utility bill for generation and distribution.

One of the hopes of utility deregulation in the late 90s was that it would allow for market forces to create a cleaner energy supply. The idea was that if customers were not forced to buy energy from their local utility they might express demand for less damaging electricity generation. Many academics and environmentalists were worried though, that consumers would instead focus on cost and become blind to other energy attributes, or remain ignorant of the specific ties and between power generation and the environment. This belief seems well-founded since more than five years into deregulation, fewer than 4% of Massachusetts customers had chosen competitive suppliers.

Bay State policy makers foresaw the difficulties for individuals in overcoming inertia to become informed and make the switch to another provider, an therefore included a novel clause in the deregulation act providing for something known as community choice aggregation. Community choice allows municipal governments to go through the competitive supplier selection process on behalf of all of their residents, permitting them to take advantage of the resulting collective bargaining power. Although Cambridge has not availed itself of this option, dozens of communities have, including those served by the well-known Cape Light Compact. Therefore, you are most likely receiving electricity through NSTAR’s default or standard offer service. Because NSTAR no longer runs power plants it acts as a de facto aggregator itself, and through an annual bidding process selects a provider for customers without a competitive supplier.

How green is this supply? What if you want something different? NSTAR began offering a wind-based power supply a little over two years ago, but there are other options available. At one point many businesses sought to be competitive suppliers in Massachusetts, but very few remain in the residential sector. Fortunately NSTAR provides a more up to date database of competitive suppliers. Simply search for your rate class (typically 01 for residential and 02 for small business) to obtain a list of alternative electricity suppliers.

Although it is still listed, Just Energy no longer offers service in Massachusetts. Neither Alternative Energy Resources nor Angora has publicly available information, and both did not respond to inquiries. The table below summarizes the information I was able to gather about the remaining residential competitive suppliers in Massachusetts. Prices are ¢/kWh for December 2009.

New England AverageNSTAREasy EnergyDominionHorizon
BasicGreen 50Green 100BasicGreen 50Green 100
Biomass6.0%10.1%12.4%2.1%0.2%
Hydro5.4%3.0%1.0%8.0%35.5%74.9%7.1%1.1%
Solar3.1%6.2%
Wind50.0%100.0%3.4%6.4%0.9%
“Renewables”3.3%8.0%5.0%
Incinerator0.5%3.0%0.6%
Landfill gas0.5%0.3%
Nuclear14.4%29.0%15.0%35.0%14.0%28.8%35.6%
Coal8.9%16.0%7.0%13.0%6.0%15.8%53.3%
Diesel2.1%
Natural gas38.0%35.0%17.0%27.0%16.5%35.1%7.5%
Oil24.6%10.0%5.0%11.0%4.5%2.9%0.6%
“Other”5.4%6.5%2.4%
Base9.229.229.228.68.68.6
Premium0.841.41.252.5

Sources:

World Fair Trade Day

Posted on by
1

Yay! For Fair Trade by Fair Trade Certified Tomorrow is World Fair Trade Day, and it will be observed at numerous progressive businesses around Boston. Specific event and promotion details will be posted tomorrow, but the overarching theme is a “fair trade crawl.” Visit a designated number of venues for a chance to win prizes; fairly traded of course!

While you’re out peddling around to burn off all that ice cream, be sure to hit-up Fresh Pond Day and the SomerGreen Festival.

Local universities undertake research into results of climate change

Posted on by
1

Last month the EPA awarded funds to MIT, Harvard and UMass Amherst among others to study the consequences of climate change. Harvard will be working with UMass Amherst to study allergies and asthma. Separately it will be researching the health impacts of pollution from forest fires. MIT will be modeling transit policy’s effects on air pollution and the resulting impacts on human health. Full news release

Why the Run on Bottled Water in Boston?

Posted on by
1

Update: The boil water order has been lifted as of Tuesday, May 4th but the question of peoples’ attitude toward tap water remains

For those of you who haven’t heard, people in the Boston area have been told to boil their tap water for a minute before drinking or cooking with it, because of a burst pipe leading from the reservoir. It’s certainly a bizarre situation for an urban area like this to be without potable water for days, but what’s even more bizarre is people’s reaction to it.

From the Boston Globe:

“The state ordered 2.5 million gallons of drinkable water and asked the federal government for help in securing additional supplies if necessary.”

“People flocked to convenience stores and groceries in search of bottled water, amid scattered reports of shortages.”

“Coakley set up a hotline for people to call in tips about alleged price gouging.”

Seriously? It’s not like there’s no water coming through. All people have to do is boil it. As long as they have a pot and a stove, they should be all set. So why the fuss over cases and cases of bottled water?

I don’t think it’s laziness, because it’s got to be more of a pain to make a special trip to the store and fight through crowds to pay more money for what comes directly your house for free (after taxes).

I think it’s a serious worry that the water coming out of the tap will make them sick. They’re thinking of their water as something akin to sewage, and if I imagine it like that, I can understand. But it’s mostly the same water they’re used to, with something like 3-5% pond water added. Pond water treated with chlorine. If you’ve ever gone swimming, you’ve probably ingested water worse than this. The precautions are there for the off chance that people might get sick from it, and they’re a good idea, but there’s no need to go overboard.

I’m worried that this will not only create a huge temporary demand for unnecessary bottled water, but make it a habit. I already know people who will never drink tap water, even if it’s filtered, because they’re convinced it’s unclean. That’s crazy. Our water system is generally good. It’s regularly tested, and reports are sent out to residents yearly. And if that’s not enough, you can just test it yourself, like I did. The test costs less than a three-pack of Brita replacement filters.

Now, all this is just me preaching at people, because I’m lucky—Cambridge’s water comes from a different reservoir than the rest of the Boston area. The only way I’ve been affected is that I had to fill up some bottles at home to bring into work. But it’s just been weird to see people’s reactions. Some people weren’t even using the water to wash their hands. After going to the bathroom. News flash: not washing your hands is going to make you sicker than drinking this water.

Okay, I’m off my soap box now. Good night.

Cross-posted on pragmaticenvironmentalism.com